North Carolina Nightlife

Somewhere between visions of sugarplums and a lump of coal lies a hilariously cynical gray area that often goes unvisited during the holidays. Today’s deal will take you there: for $10, you get one general admission ticket to The Santaland Diaries (a $20 value) at the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, a theater company that also garnered a Best of Charlotte 2009 Award from Creative Loafing's critics and readers. There are limited seats available for each show, so call the number on your Groupon to reserve your seat as soon as you can.Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.

Black Bear's varied menu, offered until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, includes appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, and entrees that quell the voracious hungers of partiers and lost conquistador explorers. Opt for a fish-and-chips platter ($13.49) and vodka penne pasta with chicken and parmesan cheese ($10.49), or start off small with appetizers such as nachos ($9.49) and mac-‘n’-cheese bites ($7.49). Additionally, a scenic outdoor patio provides the perfect spot to enjoy a drink from the fully stocked bar and to keep an eye out for pterodactyls.

At first glance, Angry Ale’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill looks like a regular sports hangout with its walls lined with dartboards and flat-screen TVs. But the eatery takes a creative angle with its menu of burgers, wings, wraps, and other pub food. From the redneck fondue—a heaping bowl of homemade queso dip—to tot-chos–tater tots smothered in jalapeños, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and a choice of meat–appetizers kick off meals with delicious unconventionality. This culinary aesthetic carries over to entrees and favorites such as the bacon fatty melt, a bacon cheeseburger with 1000 island dressing, whisked to tables by the ghost of Alexandre Dumas. Diners can also put their appetites to the test by participating in the Button Popper, a speed-eating cheeseburger challenge that asks the age-old question, “Are you built for speed or comfort?”

Standing before a mural of the nighttime Charlotte skyline with "The Comedy Zone" imposed over a massive moon, nationally touring comics present finely honed humor. Within the NC Music Factory's sprawling entertainment complex, The Comedy Zone keeps punch lines rolling with its regularly stuffed calendar of established and up-and-coming jokesters. From table seats, visitors can wet their whistles with a bounty of domestic and imported beers, bottles of wine, four-straw margaritas, and savory cocktails and feast upon a menu of classic pub fare. Monthly open-mic nights test rookies' mettle, and armchair comics can sign up for classes where industry professionals ramp up joke-writing skills, obliterate stage fright, and share the secret noise that makes hecklers cry.

Cylindrical lights cast artful shadows on golden walls while amber drapes evoke waterfalls of pure honey. Patrons just entering The Wine Loft's warm, glowing lounge find seats on a wall-length leather sofa and begin eyeing neighboring feasts of small plates. Shareable boards are scattered with Italian antipasto, charcuterie, and Mediterranean accouterments, all begging companionship from more than 40 wines by the glass. "I also have 100 wines by the bottle," the waitress says, seeing the customers scanning the bar. She drops two menus and cocktail napkins onto the black-lacquered table. Each item's description flickers against lit tea candles. Jazz music gives the room a velvety pulse. "We'll have the Japanese pumpkin ravioli and shrimp and blue-cheese pastries,” says one of the diners. “And as for all these wines, I think we'll need a few more minutes."

Since its founding at a secure location off of Glenwood Avenue one year ago, LoneRider has adhered to its founding principle: that beer is a delicious, drinkable expression of personal creativity. Casual and professional imbibers from across the Triangle have, at their first sip of LoneRider suds, been know to drop meek and flavorless drafts and finally take action on their plans to create a race of atomic super-men. The flagship brew, the hazel-eyed Shotgun Betty, is a sassy hefeweizen with a banana-clove nose and a dry finish, unusual and unabashedly individual. The DeadEye Jack porter rides into town on a chocolate horse with a malt mane, and then performs a complicated dressage routine on your tongue.